dear mr. bush

Mr. President Bush,

My wife voted for you twice. I know you're not smart with the math, so I guess I should explain. She voted for you in 2000 and in 2004-not twice in the same election. Using the same "new" math, I only voted for you once, but that was four years ago; I've since learned my lesson. Four years ago, I went against my conscience and voted for you because I thought you were an honest, good man, a man of character and integrity. Of course, it didn't hurt that your opponent was a complete moron. And in retrospect, the fact that you lost the popular vote to him does not bode well for your legacy. But I digress...on with the letter.

You began to lose my respect in September 2001. Like most Americans on September 11th, 2001, I was furious. I wanted someone to suffer for their sins. I wanted American jets in the air, and I wanted those jets bombing the hell out of whoever was responsible. I did not want Osama bin Laden "brought to justice." I wanted him dead. Him and whoever worked with him. I wanted vengeance. And it felt good.

I went to bed that night feeling terrible, secretly disgusted with myself. How did such incredible hate so suddenly fill my heart? Yet, I'm sure my thoughts were the thoughts of most Americans. We were pissed and wanted revenge.

I then began to think about what a great leader would do. A true leader would guide the nation not from his/her heart, which would undoubtedly be filled with hate and vengeance, but would guide with wisdom, divorced from emotion. A true leader would call for peace. The hate stops. It stops with us. We have been deeply wronged, but we will not return murder with more murder, killing with more killing, hate with more hate. Instead, we will work to reconcile ourselves with the rest of the world, taking blame when need be.

Our nation needed a leader who would urge the people to "beat swords into plowshares" (Isaiah 2.4). Instead you urged us to beat our plowshares into swords. And you did it, of all places, in a church. On Sept 14, within the walls of the National Cathedral, you proclaimed America's awesome thirst for vengeance. "This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others; it will end in a way and at an hour of our choosing." These words are eloquent, Mr President, and I'd be lying if there wasn't a bit of my own persona which enjoys the idea that we have the power to annihilate our enemies. But need I remind you, the leader of our nation, that power corrupts?
You have made it clear that the "hour of our choosing" will come by means of force, our military might, motivated by desires for vengeance. I want more from a leader. Something much more radical. Violence and war are easy, especially for the most powerful military on earth. Diplomacy, leading by example, and the willingness to forgive without being asked for forgiveness, are much harder, yet much braver.

Did you ever stop to think men could only be angry enough to fly planes into buildings because they've been sinned against? And that we, the most powerful nation on earth, occur a little of that blame? People are angry because they have no hope. We Americans are hated not because we have freedom, but because we have failed to give other people the same hope which we possess. In some way, it's our own fault people hate us. And a war sure as hell ain't going to fix anything.

At the time of this writing, 1,528 U.S. troops have died in Iraq. 11,568 have been wounded. 16,389 civilians have died. Why?

I ask why because I honestly don't know. I'm not a liberal hack. I'm not out to prove you wrong just because you're a republican. I just can't make any sense of it. The common conspiracy theory, we went into Iraq for the oil, doesn't hold water. Gas is now 2.25 a gallon.

In the beginning, we went to war because Iraq was a sponsor of terror. "Either you're with us or you're with the terrorists." Iraq was responsible for 9/11. Going into Iraq was part of the "war on terror." But now we know that's not true.

Then we were told Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Even the most daft among us knows that's not true.

The list of bad reasons for the war is endless. If you'd like a summary of all your lies, check out Eliot Weinberger's piece in the London Review of Books.

Mr President, you seem like a fairly religious chap. I respect this about you. I too am deeply religious. Furthermore, I don't think you are wrong to rely on your faith to guide you. I actually think this is a healthy quality to have. I don't think you are wrong to have deeply held religious convictions. This too, I think, is healthy.

The problem, as I see it, is that we have deep disagreements about what our religion, Christianity, teaches.

You seem to think God cares about whether or not homosexuals can marry. As a Protestant, I assume you derive this from scripture alone. Here we disagree. Strongly. I maintain the bible has little, if anything, to say about same sex marriage (If you'd like a full explanation of my biblical analysis please respond to this letter, and I'll go into more depth). In constrast, I fervently declare that the bible offers us an unified message about how to treat widows, orphans, and the poor. But that message is much inconvenient for you, isn't it? The bible offers us a description of how "easy" it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom or heaven (as easy as a camel passing through the eye of a needle). Would you consider yourself rich, Mr President? For your sake, I hope you can thread your body through the eye of a needle.

I don't mean to oversimpfy things (like you so often do), but are judges only "activist" when they rule against your liking? You think we need a constitutional amendment to declare marraige as a union between one man and one woman. You think an amendment is neccessary because activist judges are ruling otherwise. In 2000, you were declared president due in large part because of a ruling by the judges of the supreme court. I'm assuming you wouldn't dare label them as "activist." But the judges who rule in favor of granting universal rights to men and women, regardless of sexual orientation, are "activist?" Damn those activist judges, trying to ensure we continue in our belief that "all men are created equal."

How are you and Dick getting along?

In reference to Terry Schiavo, you said that we are a nation which "errs on the side of life." But during your reign as governor of Texas, 150 people were executed. This includes the execution of mentally retarded offenders. I know the people on death row have been convicted of heinous crimes. But why not "err on the side of life" for them? After all, in the past 30 years 119 death row inmates have been found innocent and released. It seems your hypocricy knows no bounds.

I wanted to vote for you again, especially considering the knucklehead you were running against. In the end, I took the advice of the Economist, and voted for incoherence (Kerry) rather than incompetence (you). I want to like you, Mr President, but I can not. Maybe we can work our differences over a round of golf and a beer sometime. I'd know I'd like that. In the meantime, I beg you to take seriously your pledge on Nov 3, when you spoke after hearing your opponent had conceded the election. You pledged to be the President of all Americans. That goes for me too, Mr President. I did not vote for you. I think you are incompetent. I beg you to prove me wrong.

pretend like nobody is reading

From How to Blog, by Tony Pierce:
"if you havent written about sex, religion, and politics in a week youre [sic] probably playing it too safe."

From here on out, I'm taking Tony's advice. I'm going write as if nobody is reading this. I promise to write what I really think.

irish is a state of mind

I know, St. Patrick's day was two weeks ago. Better late than never. Did you know St. Patrick was one of the original apostles? Skeptical? Here's the proof.

preachin' whiskey

Whiskey reviews. Religious discussions. What's the connection? Jack Daniels, or course.

Jack Daniels was first distilled by a minister. I choose to accept the tale as true, though I acknowledge the possibility that it's just clever marketing campaign. Isn't the same true for many thoughtful religious people? Many people of faith, including myself, accept their religious traditions as true, yet in the back of their minds wonder if it's all just a crafty bit of marketing.

And then, when it's least expected, every once in a while, someone gets lucky and stumbles upon something new, something without a marketing campaign, and the soul searcher feels at home. So it is with religious quests. We search for the answers which can be bought without a sexy marketing pitch.

Here again, the world of whiskey and religion collide. People of faith desire truth without a sales pitch. People of whiskey do too. Witness George Dickel Tennessee Whisky. Like Jack Daniels, George Dickel is Tennessee Wiskey. George Dickel, however does not need a sexy marketing campaign.

scalia revisited

My blogging buddy timbu has posted a response to my take on the death penalty. I deeply appreciate his post, mostly because we do not agree, yet he disagrees in such a way that makes me wish we did. His writing reminds me of something blatantly missing from our country's present policical arena. Intead of respectful debate, we're forced to observe desruptive polemical politicians. And they wonder why much of the country is so apathetic.

I'd also like to aplaud timbu for his courage. His post is the "most incendiary thing" he's ever written in his blog. I'm quickly learning how hard it is to be completely honest when writting these blogs. Mostly, we're probably afraid of rejection...maybe we're just scared. We're scared of what I'd describe as "cognitive nakedness" - exposing our innermost thoughts for all to read.

Sometime in the near future I'll post a more formal reply to timbu's take on the supreme court's latest death penalty decision.

Peace,
the preacher

sunday school revisited, part 1

I have big aspirations; today's topic is intended to be the first in a semi-regular series.

Periodically, I hope to present morsels of goodness which will induce a reaction of surprise. For each piece in the series, the common theme intends to be one which should invoke the following reaction: "I sure as hell didn't learn that in Sunday school!"

First, a couple of initial, yet parenthetical, observations:
My religion (Christianity) has many skeletons in the closet. And we Christians are fickle about them. We don't enjoy owning up (nobody does when it comes to matters of faith); we're much more comfortable sweeping sins of our mothers and fathers under the rug, implicitly imagining we've honoured our prescribed penance.

My religion's holy book (the bible) has many strange and unusual writings. And we Christians are fickle about them. We'd much rather pretend they don't exist; instead of accepting the bible as it is, we create a bible of our own, conveniently ignoring the parts which don't jive with the god we've created in our own image.

My intent is not to ridicule my own faith, but to acknowledge some things we Christians often feel uncomfortable talking about (much less thinking about). In doing so, I hope to find the freedom which comes when one laughs at one's self. I find life to be better when taken a bit less seriously; a healthy dose of frivolity certianly can't hurt religious dialogue.

Enough preaching. On with today's "I sure as hell didn't learn that in sunday school!" observation.

In Jeremiah 13, God announces a judgment to God's people. "And if you say in your heart, 'why have these things come upon me?' it is for the greatness of your iniquity that your skirts are lifted up, and you are violated...because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies, I myself will lift up your skirts over your face, and your shame will be seen" (Jer 13.22,26).

Has your skirt ever been "lifted up" because God was pissed at you? Was this what was really going on in the famous picture of Marilyn Monroe?

whiskey review

Like many of us, when I need to put off doing something important, I surf the web. After reading through some blogs, I often look for websites devoted to a "hobby" of mine: whiskey.

Here's the best I've found so far, complete with suggested poems which pair well with whiskey. Many thanks Dennis.

religion in your genes

A new scientific study suggests your religious fervor (or lack thereof) might be genetic. What's more interesting about the study is that it concludes that the influences of person's religious upbringing fade as the person grows into an adult.

In short, it's possible your parents don't choose your religion for you, but your genes just might. Now when someone tells you they don't like you because of your religous leanings, you can accuse them of being intolerant-they are implicitly criticizing your genetic makeup. If these scientists are correct, we can't change our religious disposition anymore than we can change the color of our skin.

march madness

As far as sporting events go, it's my favorite time of the year-the ncaa men's basketball tournament. Here's my final four picks: Arizona, Wake Forest, Duke, and UNC.

duke sucks

In honor of the NCAA tournament, enjoy the picture. Duke Sucks.

let the politicking begin

Warning: the following is my first politically orientated post. Let's try and keep the comments civil. I realize you are at whiskeyreview.blogspot.com. If politics ain't your bag, pour yourself another Makers and bear with me.

The honourable Justice Scalia recently fell off his rocker. The Justice expressed his negative opinions related to the increased political role of the supreme court. I can't say I completely disagree with him, but here's where it gets good. How did the old man from New York choose to make his point? By criticizing at Chief Justice Warren, of course. The Warren court being the one which was instrumental in the civil rights movement, notably their decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Criticizing Justice Warren is like criticizing Martin Luther King, Jr. By doing so, you sound stupid at best; at worst, just plain bigoted.

And to what event did the honourable Justice Scalia deem worthy enough to incite such a bigoted response? Killing under age criminals, of course. The supreme court recently ruled in favour of banning juvenile executions.

I don't pretend to have extensive knowledge/opinions about the nature of our government. But here's what I think about all of this-
1) The death penalty sucks. It's not fairly applied. It's not a deterrent to crime.

2) I find it disgusting to think that we, as a nation, would allow juveniles to be sentenced to death. Unless, of course, we were hoping to form a coalition of the killing with Iran, China, and Pakistan.

Peace,
The preacher

bloggin' don't pay, either

An anonymous reader replied to my inaugural post: if preachin' did pay, would you preach?

I think, given the chance, all of us would choose to preach if it paid. Witness the amazing proliferation of blogs, this one included. Blogging is essentially preaching, and I'm willing to bet most of us would choose to blog if it paid. And the absurd diversity of blogs shows just how interesting the world would be if we all became preachers.

I wonder-why do we write these blogs? For some, it's a way to avoid things we should be doing. For others, it's a useful tool for spreading political propaganda. But I think all of us most admit, at least at some level, that we write in the desperate hope that someone will listen. We are excited by the prospect that our thoughts matter, that someone else thinks we are interesting, or maybe even original, even if mildly irritating.

Sure, I'd preach if it paid. It would sure beat the hell out of working. And what would I preach about? I'll save those stories for another day, if I haven't begun already...

Here's to hoping we find each other original.

Maker's marks the spot

Ah, my first picture has been posted, and it was surprisingly easy to do. Blogger has a fairly decent help section which guides you through how to do it. They make you download Pisasa and Hello, applications owned/sponsored?? by google which make picture sharing easy. After that it was just a couple of clicks, and voila! my picture appeared on my blog.

Sorry to bore all you advanced bloggers with mundane details. I'm just excited to be joining 21st century.

why whiskey reviews are cool, but preachin' don't pay

My name is Joel, namesake of a Hebrew prophet. I like drinking good whiskey and reading thoughtful books (or blogs - check out timbu).

I work in the movie office space, and if I had a million dollars I'd buy an ipod.

I work because preachin' don't pay.
Extortion does, but I still need to look at myself in the mirror when I shave.

More of my autobiography to come. If I revealed all my secrets, I wouldn't have anything to write about, and therefore nothing interesting (hopefully) for you to read.

I'll close my opening thoughts with a lyric by Cedar3:

I watch the smoke chase the moon
On a bitter winter's breath
Mother Nature is open for confession
and I've got so much to confess

I'm chasing away this windchill
with Scotland's finest over ice
how's it so easy to go so wrong
and leave everything that's right?

Stay tuned, and welcome to my life.